Out of State

Randall D. Crocker, President and CEO of von Briesen & Roper, s.c., has announced that Joseph M. Russell joined the Firm as a Shareholder. Russell is a member of the trial team representing BP in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He was formerly a Partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

Russell is a Shareholder in the firm’s Litigation and Risk Management Practice Group. He has litigated a wide variety of cases in state and federal courts throughout the country, including commercial, franchise and distribution, mass tort, product liability, corporate, environment, consumer fraud, bankruptcy and trade secret cases.

Russell is active in both pro bono and charitable endeavors. He has briefed and argued criminal appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals (7th Circuit) and served as class counsel for over 4,000 individuals who resided in state-funded institutions for mental disease who now have the opportunity to move into and receive services in community-based housing (Williams v. Quinn, N.D. Illinois). He was the recipient of the Access Living 2012 “Lead On!” award for representing individuals with mental illness.

The Honorable Robert Gerst Raleigh, 61, of Florissant, Mo., born Feb. 11, 1952, went to be with the Lord on Sunday, July 28, 2013.

Bob was of counsel at Armstrong Teasdale, LLP, and also served as a municipal court judge for the City of Florissant, Mo.

Bob graduated from McCluer High School in 1970, then received a bachelor's degree from Drury College in 1979. He graduated from St. Louis University School of Law in 1983 and was admitted to both the Missouri and Illinois bars.

Bob was a gifted with beautiful tenor voice and loved to sing. He glorified God by singing in the Chancel Choir of Central Presbyterian Church. He was invited to sing in the Home of Jack Buck on several Christmas Eves. He loved to make people laugh, and was a proud member of The Courthouse Steps and the Dogtown Tenors.

Bob was a member of the Order of the Veiled Prophet and loved dressing to the nines and escorting his girlfriend, Noelle, to the Veiled Prophet Ball every December. He was also a board member of the Hot City Theatre, a volunteer for the St. Louis Variety Club, and a member of Elks Lodge 9. Bob was a season ticket holder at the Muny and also was an avid fan of shows at the Fox Theater.

Bob had a deep compassion for all animals and was an ardent supporter of the Humane Society of Missouri and the Belleville Humane Society. He had a fierce love for his Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Charlie, who served as the 2011 HSMO Bark in the Park Mascot. He was happiest simply sitting on his couch snuggling with and receiving canine kisses from Charlie and Noelle's dogs, Oscar and Fenway.

William E. Good died unexpectedly in Scottsdale, Arizona, on July 17. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 16, 1930 to James and Marion Good.

His formative years were spent in Downers Grove, Illinois, with his brothers Bob, Tom and Ralph and his little sister Sarah. He engaged in the normal adventures of a young man growing up in the '30s and '40s and when he came of age, he served his country as a Military Policeman (MP) and in the Judge Advocate Division in Okinawa, Japan.

He matriculated at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, earning his undergraduate and law degrees and meeting his future bride of 58 years, Marlene (nee McGrath).

His law career was robust and varied. During his corporate law career he represented American Home Products, Ekco Products, and later served as General Counsel for Brach Candy in Chicago. Additionally, he spent 20 years serving the citizens of Arizona as an administrative law judge.

The Illinois State Bar Association Assembly, the organization's 203-person policy making body, approved several reports during the 137th Annual Meeting in Lake Geneva, Wis.

The Assembly unanimously approved the 53-page report and recommendations of the Special Committee on the Impact of Law School Debt on the Delivery of Legal Services. The report was supported with research and testimony from statewide hearings that call for dramatic changes in the way law schools deliver education. The Assembly also moved to adopt the report as coming from ISBA and not just the special committee and sending the report to the deans of all Illinois law schools, newspapers editors and Supreme Court justices. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) has written to the ABA Task Force on the Future of Legal Education recommending the findings in the ISBA report.

The Assembly also approved the report and recommendations of the Special Committee on Fair and Impartial Courts.

ISBA Past President John Locallo presented the report and recommendations of the Special Committee on Collaborative Law, which opposed legislative passage of the "Uniform Collaborative Law Act" as a violation of separation of powers. The Assembly approved that report as well.